


(we’ll learn to) love again

by gayvodkalarry



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Enjoyyyy, Larry obviously, Love, M/M, Misunderstanding, happy in the end cause larry should never be sad, im not sure but you might cry, its a good story, lol it really is, niall cameo because I couldn’t NOT include him hehe, some ziam - Freeform, thats it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 02:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17778983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gayvodkalarry/pseuds/gayvodkalarry
Summary: when harry thinks it’s over and he’s fine again, his past comes laughing through the door. probably laughing at him. what a bitch.orthe one where harry has moved on from louis, at least he thinks he has and three years later, louis comes for a date at the restaurant harry caters at.





	(we’ll learn to) love again

**Author's Note:**

> this is a work of fiction and in no way do I personally know any of these characters (I wishhhh). 
> 
> please do not use this work anywhere or post it as your own. plagiarism is illegal.
> 
> thanks!
> 
> hope you enjoy reading!

“Well I guess it would be nice,” Liam sang, shimmying through the kitchen, nudging Harry with his elbow as he danced around.

“Liam, seriously,” Rose, their main chef for today laughed, as she cut the onions perfectly, pushing them aside to get the bell peppers.

“If I could touch your body,” he continued, winking at Harry and laughing right after, getting a smile from Harry in return.

“Say that to Zayn,” he said smugly, enjoying as Liam stopped singing abruptly, his lips pursing as his cheeks turned absolutely pink.

Now it was Harry’s turn to laugh, he pointed to Liam’s face and chuckled, as Liam rolled his eyes and flipped him off.

This was how everyday was. Harry worked at a decent restaurant, he catered there, and once or twice, he was even allowed to cook a dish or two, provided he knew how to (which he did, most of the time anyway).

Rose was one of the main chefs, along with Sammy and Nick, who were currently making the soup and baking the cake, humming happily.

Everyone in this kitchen loved doing what they did. Even the ones who catered, the ones like Harry and Liam, always seemed to be content with what they were doing. Of course, for them, this wasn’t a permanent job, but currently, it paid well and this was quite a reputed restaurant, after all.

Harry had always wanted to open his own restaurant. He always liked the idea of naming it ‘Eat in Styles’ but all his friends were in fits of laughter when he revealed that.

Liam had said, “Harry, we love you but _that_ is not going to work, mate.”

Harry had pouted then and politely told him to fuck off, but over the years, he did realise that he might have to think of a better name (he might have still been sold to ‘eat in styles’ but don’t tell Liam that).

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when their newest addition, Amy rushed into the kitchen through the opaque doors with a glass hole in them.

She was still in university, so for her, this was a part time job. She had classes in the morning, and came to help during the evenings. Nice girl, she was.

“Table 28 is occupied now,” she informed, and Harry nodded his head, telling everyone that he would handle this.

He adjusted the black skinny jeans on his waist (the uniform was actually a white shirt and black _pants_ , the typical uniform, but Harry always got away with wearing his skinny jeans) and ran a hand through his hair.

You can’t blame him though, in his defence, the skinny jeans made his ass look good.

He walked through the kitchen doors and heard boisterous laughter.

He looked to his side and snorted when he saw his other friend, Niall, trying his best to flirt his way into the girl’s heart. They were at a restaurant. A _restaurant._ Seriously.

Harry shook his head and quickly located table 28.

He could see a woman and the man’s back was facing him.

He corrected his slightly hunched posture, and gracefully made his way to the table assigned. Well, he _tried_ to be graceful, but you see, the graceful part doesn’t always work out for him and so, obviously, he tripped.

But thankfully, he only tripped, missing a step, he didn’t fall. _Thank fuck_.

No one liked making a fool of themselves in front of so many people.

He cleared his throat, ready to start with his regular “What can I get for you today?” but the words got stuck in his throat when he looked at the people sitting at the table.

The _person_ sitting at the table, rather.

His gaze shifted from the person to his apparent date and he raised an eyebrow.

Three years. And he was finally okay again. He didn’t understand why his past had to be such a little bitch but here it was, his past, his everything, right in front of him. And he didn’t want it. He didn’t want _him_. They parted ways three years ago, it should’ve stayed that way.

He cleared his throat again, willing himself to ignore the pit in his stomach and do his job.

“What can I get for you today?” He asked politely, smiling at the two of them.

“Whatever you’re having, El,” Louis said, a smile on his face, which, to Harry, looked a bit uncomfortable, but you know, _he didn’t care_.

The woman, ‘El’, smiled at Louis and shrugged.  
“We could have a spaghetti or something,” she suggested sweetly and a massive fire of rage started in Harry’s chest.

_Stop it. Don’t do this._

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and waited for their order.

“So you’re into girls, huh?” Harry couldn’t help himself, he really couldn’t, as he glared daggers at a guilty Louis who wouldn’t even so much as _look_ at him.

“I’m sorry, what?” The woman intervened, her smile sweet and Harry wanted to punch something. Not her, but well, _something_.

“Um,” he fumbled for a second, but caught himself on time.  
“‘Into girls’, it’s a name of a dish,” he covered, faking a smile at her as she nodded, a little surprised.

“Oh, it’s not on the menu, but can you tell us what it’s like?” She asked, and she was genuinely curious, and for no reason at all, all of this made Harry’s blood boil.

“Well, it’s spicy, very spicy, and it’s tongue burning, throat punching and—“

“Okay!” Louis’ voice cut through the air, louder than Harry’s purposely, to make him stop speaking.

“I think we’re going to stick with the spaghetti,” he added quietly, looking down at his hands again. Harry sighed, subtly rolling his eyes.

The woman nodded, agreeing and offered Harry a smile.

“Sure, okay, but it’s a _great_ dish, definitely better than ‘Into boys’,” Harry said the last part through gritted teeth.

The woman giggled at that, looking up at Harry with a smile.  
“Is that a dish too?” She asked, her eyes twinkling.

“Yes, it is,” Harry gave her another fake smile, but he had perfected the art so well, not even Louis would be able to tell if it was fake or real.

And anyway, Louis didn’t know him anymore. He wouldn’t be able to judge Harry at all.

“It’s quite bland though. It’s plain and it’s not good enough,” He said, and Louis’ eyes sharply flicked to Harry and Harry gulped.

“I mean, it’s not as good as the other dishes, yeah,” he said, satisfied with his explanation.

“Oh, you guys sure have very strange names for your dishes,” the woman laughed harmlessly, and Harry faked a smile again.

“That’s what makes us unique,” he politely chuckled along, his grip on the notepad in his hand tightening as he saw the way the woman was looking at Louis.

But he didn’t care. He had to keep telling himself that. _I don’t care._

“So is that your final order? Any drinks?” Harry asked, telling himself to get back to his professional demeanour and do his job properly.

“I think we’ll both have fresh lime soda?” Louis suggested and the woman perked up at the mention of that specific drink, nodding her head. Harry wrote down their final order, his ears listening to their conversation about how Louis was going to drive tonight and shouldn’t be drinking. He also said that fresh lime soda was ‘El’’s favourite drink and the woman giggled, while Harry rolled his eyes.

All of this was so terrible. Today had been a great day, but no, of course the fucker had to ruin it.

Harry smiled at no one in particular, and made his way back to the kitchen.

“I give up! Someone else needs to handle table 28! I can’t do it!” He shouted, and he had hardly stepped foot into the kitchen.

“Why? Is it some group of idiotic teenagers?” Liam asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he carefully placed the dishes on his tray for the table he was attending to.

“No, but I wish. That would’ve been better,” Harry sighed, his shoulders drooping as he passed the notepad to Rose, who took it and started working on the dish immediately.

“It’s Louis,” he defeatedly said, and Liam bit his lip, comforting Harry with his eyes as his hands were full.

Harry gave him a tight smile, nodding gratefully at the effort and leaned against one of the many counters.

“Oh, that guy has a pretty face, and as if that wasn’t enough, he’s got a pretty name too,” Amy said, her eyebrows raised as she cleaned one of the counters with a cloth.

“Who’s Louis?” Sammy asked, putting some sort of a garnish on her dish.

Liam looked at Harry for confirmation, and Harry only nodded, telling him to go on.

“Harry’s ex,” Liam said and Nick pursed his lips, looking at Harry with his eyebrows raised.

“Oh,” Amy reacted, her eyes wide as she stared at Harry.

_What a power couple they must’ve been._

She thought, but she didn’t dare to say that out loud.

“Someone else definitely needs to switch tables with Harry,” Rose suggested, putting the spaghetti in the vessel to cook.

“You can go take this, mate, table 16, let me go to 28,” Liam said, and Harry looked at him like he was an angel. Knowing Liam, he probably was.

“It’s alright, Li, I can handle this,” Harry denied, shaking his head.

“No, you can’t, and even if you can, we’re not going to watch you while you go through some trauma, so take that tray and rush to table 16,” Sammy said firmly, making Harry nod his head at every word of hers with wide eyes.

“Okay!” He almost squeaked, and held the tray in his hands.

Sammy could be intimidating when she wanted to be, okay? Don’t blame him.

He walked out of the kitchen again, and Niall was nowhere to be seen.

 _Damn_ , he thought.

_Maybe he didn’t get into her heart but he’s definitely getting into her pants._

He quickly looked for table 16 where a nice and happy family was sat.

Harry automatically smiled and made his way to them.

He loved to serve such people the most. They were nice, happy and enjoying themselves.

He reached their table and quietly placed their dishes on it.

“Thank you!” The little girl, not more than five, said, and Harry grinned at her.

“You’re welcome!” He said, equally enthusiastic as he placed the plates in front of each of them.

Their conversation was normal, not that Harry was listening.

Hear but don’t listen. That’s what was supposed to be followed but he was curious by nature.

“Would you like to order your dessert now or should I come back later?” Harry asked with a smile, stepping back and straightening his posture.

“Ice cream!” The little girl screamed and her older brother put his palm to cover her mouth. He didn’t look older than ten.

“Don’t be so loud, Gracie, this is a restaurant,” he whispered to her, a fond look in his eyes, and she obediently nodded her head, smiling softly at her brother, but not before licking his palm that was on her mouth. The brother pulled his hand away quickly, and glared at her in a way only siblings could manage. The sister laughed.

Harry watched the exchange with an involuntary smile covering his face. He has an older sister, he knows what it’s like to have siblings.

“We’ll order the dessert later, if that’s okay,” the man, who he assumed was the dad, answered and Harry nodded his head.

“Of course,” He said, backing away.  
“Enjoy your meal,” he smiled, and walked away with an empty tray by his side.

*

“Liam, table 16 was so good,” Harry said as soon as he entered, a wide smile on his face.

Liam nodded, as the rest of them in the kitchen smiled to themselves.

They might never admit it to each other, but they were like a family too. They saw each other everyday, and cared about each other. A lot. Also, everyone loved Harry. That boy was too adorable not to love.

“You went–“ Harry cut himself off, but Liam nodded, understanding.

“Yeah, I met him, he pretended not to know me. I think it was because of Eleanor.” Liam spoke casually.

“Eleanor?” Harry asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah, that girl with him. He always hated questions, didn’t he?” Liam shook his head, as if that was self-explanatory.

But he was right, Louis did hate questions. And Harry always asked questions. It wasn’t his fault that Louis never came home before midnight almost every night.

It wasn’t fair that he blamed everything on Harry. None of it was fair, and it was gone for good.

Harry shook his head, telling everyone that he was going to walk around the restaurant to see if anyone wanted to order something more.

“Excuse me?” He heard the woman’s voice and he sighed, because seriously? Why him? The family had cheered him up and now these two were going to drain him of his happiness.

He turned around to face table 28, and offered them a smile.

“We’d like to order dessert,” Louis spoke, his eyes on the menu in his hands.

“Sure, what would you like?” Harry asked politely, and mentally patted his back for speaking without an embarrassing stutter or a snappy remark.

“I was thinking chocolate mousse,” The woman said, and Harry nodded, writing it down.

“And you’ll have the red velvet cheesecake?”

Shit.

He didn’t mean to say it out loud and now the woman _and_ Louis, both of them were staring at him.

“Yeah,” Louis breathed after a moment, blinking, as if he felt lost and a bit surprised.

Red velvet cheesecake was Louis’ favourite. Now Harry knows that that definitely hasn’t changed.

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. _Oh god_.

“Red velvet is a common dessert. From experience I can say, quite a few people order it around here. It’s also one of our best desserts,” Harry tried to explain, getting his mind to think and offer all the explanation he could muster.

A look of realisation crossed the woman’s eyes as she nodded slowly.  
“Oh,” she said, and Harry nodded his head once again.

He almost fled from there and reached the kitchen with a groan.

“Who told you to venture outside?” Rose rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what had happened.

“Well, someone had to!” Harry argued, throwing his hands up in the air as he sighed in exasperation.

“Chocolate mousse and red velvet cheesecake,” He said, and Nick nodded, getting to work.

Liam entered the kitchen with a smile and Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Did you just go to table 16?” Harry guessed, a little disappointed since he was looking forward to going there for dessert.

“What, no, he was supposed to go to table 8,” Amy said, filling up her tray.

“Table 8? Who’s at table 8?” Harry asked, and with furrowed eyebrows, he peeked outside, spotting table 8 and _oh_.

“Oh, wow, Liam, go ahead, serve him, you can also sit there if you like,” Harry mocked, laughing, as Amy looked at them with raised eyebrows.

“I don’t even understand what’s going on anymore,” She said, blinking at the pink on Liam’s cheeks.

“That’s Zayn,” Harry explained and Amy laughed with him, finally getting it, as Liam rolled his eyes, muttering a quiet “Whatever.”

“Seriously, mate, at least tell him!” Harry suggested, and Liam shook his head.

“Just wait till his date shows up, he doesn’t like me like that.” Liam said, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair.

“No date is going to show up, Li. I feel like he came here for you,” Harry spoke, and Liam hated that his heart fluttered at that thought.

“I’m just gonna go take the order from 16!” Harry made an excuse and he was out of there before anyone could stop him.

“Hey, Zayn,” He said, walking towards table 8 with a smile.

“Hey, Haz, what’s up, mate?” Zayn asked, a twinkle in his eye as he looked up at Harry.

Harry grinned back at him.

Don’t tell anyone this, but Zayn might just be his favourite person in the world.

He was nice, sweet, tattooed and loved him like an older brother (so the tattooed part sounds irrelevant but Harry has tattoos and Zayn has tattoos and basically, that’s nice, okay?).

“All alone?” Harry asked discreetly, he had to know, after all.

“Yeah,” Zayn sighed, getting more comfortable in his seat, motioning for Harry to sit beside him.

Harry looked around, everyone seemed to be occupied. If they needed something, he’ll rush to them, but currently, it seemed safe to sit down.

“Okay, now lets get to the point,” Harry grinned at Zayn and Zayn furrowed his eyebrows, confused as he waited for Harry to elaborate.

“You’re so dense, I’m talking about Liam,” Harry finally said, shaking his head.

“Oh,” Zayn breathed, biting his lip and Harry raised an eyebrow at that.

“Well, so you’re here because of him, aren’t you?” Harry asked, turning around to face Zayn completely.

“Is it that obvious?” Zayn asked, covering his face with his hands as he groaned.

“Nah, Liam’s denser than you. He thinks your date will show up.” Harry spilled. I mean, someone had to say it.

“But there’s no date!” Zayn denied, his eyes wide, and Harry could see that Zayn thought his plan was backfiring.

“Tell Liam that,” Harry shrugged, leaning his head on Zayn’s shoulder for warmth.

He loved to cuddle. Anyone who knew him knew that.

“He cares?” Zayn asked, a little surprised and Harry laughed.

“Tsk, tsk. Dense,” he almost sang, but stopped with a squawk when Zayn tried to push him off his shoulder.

“Okay, okay, but do tell him,” Harry suggested, and one of them had to. It was true. Or else they would just be pretending not to like the other their whole lives.

Seriously, they were capable of that.

“Harry,” Zayn hissed and Harry hummed, looking at his fingers as he leaned against Zayn.

“A customer?” Zayn said, more like a question and Harry shot up straight, looking around to see Louis standing right in front of him.

And how dark his eyes had become.

He almost glared at Zayn who pouted in confusion, wondering what it was that he did wrong, that made a literal stranger look at him like that.

“Yes?” Harry said, drawing Louis’ focus from Zayn to Harry himself.

“Um, I was wondering where the restrooms are?” He asked, running a hand through his hair, his eyes still dark and stormy.

“Oh, okay, I’ll take you,” Harry said politely.

In the beginning of his training for this, they had been advised not to just give the people directions, but to lead the way. Gave out a better impression or something.

Harry had no desire to guide _Louis_ but rules are rules.

He looked over his shoulder at Zayn and mouthed that he’ll be back in a minute.

Louis didn’t react very positively to that and hmphed.

_Okay then._

“I’ll lead the way,” Harry said and began walking.

As they walked, Harry couldn’t help but think how much Louis had changed appearance wise.

He looked older, more mature, with his hair growing again. It looked recently cut, but Harry figured he was trying to grow them again. He had light stubble on his face and his eyes looked a bit dull.

Harry frowned at that. What happened in the past three years that switched off the light in Louis’ eyes?

He shook his head, trying to think of something else, but his thoughts always went back to Louis as if he was their favourite, which he probably was.

“Right here,” Harry said, breaking the silence as he stopped in front of the restroom door, waiting for Louis.

Harry didn’t know what made Louis so brave but instead of nodding and walking into the restroom, he grabbed Harry by the arm and pulled him inside with him.

“Hey!” Harry protested, trying to free his arm from Louis’ hold.

Louis might have been a little shorter, but he was strong as hell.

“You thought you were being subtle?” Louis asked, ignoring Harry’s protests earlier as he stepped back and glared at the younger boy.

Harry gulped, and all he could do was stare. He had nothing to say to that.

“Talk to me, you thought you could just make a remark like that and get away with it?” Louis asked, his voice dangerously low as his eyes pinned Harry in one place.

“How does it matter to you?” Harry spat, his eyes showing a fire of his own as he stood tall, glaring at the man who was his everything.

“You weren’t supposed to be here!” Louis said, exasperated, dodging Harry’s question.

“Excuse me? This is where I work. You can’t tell me where to and where not to be,” Harry spoke, an annoyed look on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“We weren’t supposed to see each other ever again,” Louis continued, softer this time, but still as powerful.

“Yeah, we weren’t.” Harry agreed, sighing as he ran a hasty hand through his hair.

“But how does it matter anyway, right? You have a boyfriend.” It sounded like Louis was spitting venom as he glared up at Harry who looked back in disbelief.

“I don’t have a boyfriend?” He said, almost shouting as his hands curled into fists on either side of him.

“Oh? Then who was that lad you were _very_ comfortable with?” Louis asked, his eyes narrowed as he waited for Harry’s excuse.

Harry felt the need to justify, that no, Zayn wasn’t his boyfriend at all but then it was like he came back to his senses because what? How dare he?

Louis was _no one_ to say anything to him regarding that matter. Harry liked the idea of pretending that Zayn was indeed his boyfriend.

Harry bit his lip, looking Louis right in the eye, challenging him to do something about it.

“And so what if he’s my boyfriend? You seemed to be quite happy with your ‘El’,” Harry rolled his eyes, turning around to open the door and get out of there.

“Don’t you fucking _dare_ walk away from me,” Louis growled, grabbing Harry’s wrist with no mercy, pulling him back and closing the door.

Pinning him against the same door.

Harry let out a surprised but strangled scream at the impact, his eyes going wide at their close proximity.

“Eleanor is _not_ my girlfriend.” Louis hissed, his hands grabbing Harry’s wrists, keeping him from lashing out.

Harry laughed. It was a humourless, empty, _cold_ laugh.  
“Sure. It was a date, wasn’t it?” He asked, his eyes traitorously showing his hurt for Louis to see.

Louis hesitated, and Harry pushed him away with his held wrists. He stumbled back at the impact but Harry didn’t care.

“Come on, lie to me one last time. Tell me, ‘no, Harry, it wasn’t a date. She’s a co-worker.’ One more lie won’t hurt me, right? I’m sure we’re both used to it. You lying and me pretending to believe.” Harry glared at a now slightly guilty Louis.

“Come on, _Louis Tomlinson_ , tell me. What’s the lie going to be this time, huh?” Harry urged with a cruel smirk, Louis’ name sounding like poison on Harry’s lips.

Louis didn’t reply. He only sighed, sliding down against the wall behind him instead.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. Louis’ supposed to fight back.

“Come on,” Harry muttered, desperately trying to get a rise out of him.

“Tell me,” he urged, and finally, Louis looked up with the sharpest glare.

“ _Fine_.” He snapped, and Harry almost flinched at the intensity of his glare, but held himself.

“Yes, _she was my date_ , okay? Happy? Was that what you wanted to hear? Huh, _Harry Styles_?” And Harry’s name from Louis’ lips didn’t sound any better. It was almost like someone stabbed Harry with a knife.

Harry stumbled back, the words hurting and he shook his head, his eyes tightly shut.

He didn’t want to hear that. He wanted her to be a co-worker, someone who was accompanying Louis to discuss their most recent project.

But she wasn’t. _She was his date._ The same four words repeated in his head until he couldn’t stand it.

He had nothing to say, so he glared at Louis.

Louis sighed, breaking the eye contact as he tried to make his way past Harry to grab the door and get out of there.

But Harry was quick to grab Louis instead, pulling him flush against his own body.

Louis’ eyes widened as he looked at Harry, his eyes filled with confusion.

Harry looked into those deep as ocean eyes, and his breath stuttered.

This was the man he loved.

But his heart said: _This is the man I love._

And his heart won.

Harry dipped down to capture Louis’ lips in a kiss.

Louis’ mouth opened, surprised, but he didn’t pull back, to Harry’s relief.

He pushed Harry against the door and tangled his hands in his curly hair.

“You cut your hair,” Louis mumbled against Harry’s lips and Harry breathed through his mouth, their breaths mingling.

“You’re growing yours,” He replied, breathy, his hands clutching Louis’ waist tightly.

Louis took a ragged breath, still flush against Harry and tugged at his hair harder, trying to get Harry as close as possible.

“Working out?” Louis asked, breathing heavily, their noses touching as Harry tried to capture those lips again.

He hummed, his eyes falling on Louis’ pink lips, and he couldn’t resist. He never could.

He plunged back to kiss Louis with so much pressure, Louis’ back, his whole body arched.

“Has ‘El’ ever kissed you like this?” Harry mumbled, as Louis clutched at his work attire as if he would fall otherwise. In this case, he probably would. His knees were buckled.

“Huh? Tell me, has she?” Harry growled, and if he wasn’t mistakened, Louis whimpered at that. Harry smirked.

“N-No,” Louis croaked, trying to match the level of aggression in the kiss.

“I’ve never kissed her,” he breathed, tightening his hold around Harry’s shoulders as their bodies danced together.

“Good,” Harry mumbled, turning them around to push Louis against the washbasins in the restroom.

Harry, with a dangerous fire in his eyes, took off his shirt, trying not to fumble too much with the buttons, as Louis stared in a trance.

The tattoos. Louis had always loved those. Harry smirked at his ex-boyfriend’s reaction which hadn’t changed a bit since this last happened.

The shirt was finally undone as Harry pushed it off his shoulders and threw it aside blindly, plunging back down to capture those lips he loved.

Louis’ hands rested on Harry’s cheeks as he kissed back with just enough intensity, making Harry moan into his mouth.

“Off,” Harry mumbled against his lips, pulling away just enough to tug at Louis’ shirt.

Louis hummed in a daze, as his hands automatically grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Harry grabbed the shirt and threw it away.

With a devouring look in his eyes, he drilled holes into Louis’ exposed body, the desire, the want, growing more and more by the second.

Harry moaned, not being able to help himself as he ran his hands over Louis’ chest.

Louis smirked.  
“Still like the muscles, don’t you?” He asked, his eyes dark and as if it was possible, a bit more wanting than Harry’s.

Harry grunted, dropping his face into Louis’ neck, sucking harshly.

Louis’ hands went around both sides of Harry’s head as he pushed him away.  
“No marks,” he mumbled, and Harry complied with a pout.

He wasn’t going to do anything Louis didn’t want.

“What are we doing?” Louis asked, and when he looked up, Harry almost stumbled back because he looked _torn_.

“What are we doing, Harry?” He repeated and he sounded so wrecked. And Harry hadn’t thought about it. He just wanted and wanted and wanted. He didn’t know what this was.

“If it’s just a game to you now, then stop,” Louis sighed, running a hand through his hair hastily, standing up straighter and then bending down to pick up his shirt and put it on.

When Harry didn’t say anything, Louis sighed once again, biting his lip as he tried to make himself look presentable.

He looked into the mirror, where he saw a man. But that man had too red and too swollen lips, his hair was all over the place and his eyes showed him to be wrecked. And maybe he was.

“I’ve got to go,” Louis muttered almost inaudibly, as he tried to walk past Harry for the second time. The only difference was that Harry didn’t stop him.

*

“Would you like to order dessert now?” Harry asked the family on table 16, attempting to smile when in reality, all he wanted to do was cry.

“Yes,” the father said, glancing at the menu and looking to the rest of the family members.

“Ice cream!” The little girl giggled, and her brother rolled his eyes.

“I want the mint one and she wants strawberry,” He said, looking at his dad who nodded and then at Harry, who quietly wrote the order down.

“Tiramisu sounds good,” the mother said, looking at her husband with a smile. Finally, when all of them had given their orders and Harry had successfully written them down, he offered them a polite smile and backed away.

He walked back into the kitchen with his eyes on the floor but when he heard laughter, he looked to his side and spotted Liam laughing with Zayn.

Well, at least someone was happy and hadn’t messed up.

*

Days passed by after that one day.

 _By now, Eleanor is probably Louis’ girlfriend_ , Harry thought bitterly.

If only he had said something that day when Louis had asked him a very valid question, maybe he would’ve been here, alone this time, waiting for Harry to join him like Liam has been joining Zayn almost everyday for three minutes at once.

And they look happy. They are happy, and don’t get him wrong, Harry is happy for them but he can’t help but envy what their relationship has already bloomed into.

“Yesterday, you were here. Today, you’re here. What’s your work schedule like, Zed?” Harry overheard Liam laughing.

Zayn was a model though. Of course he was a model, he had to put that pretty face to use. He had shoots once in a while, but it paid very well, and of course he made time for Liam.

Harry huffed. He’s such a fuck up himself.

“Take this to table 21, Harry,” Sammy instructed, passing him the dish as he stared into space.

“Harry!”

“Huh?”

“What’s happened to you? You’ve been so lost these past few days. Everything okay, right?” She asked, concerned as she looked at Harry who shrugged and mustered a small smile, nodding his head.

“Totally,” he assured her and with a dimpled smile, he already mentioned he had perfected the art of fake dimpled smiles, he placed the dish on the tray and headed to table 21.

Once that order had been given successfully, he turned back around, only to face another body.

“Can you, um, show me where the restrooms are?” He asked with gritted teeth and Harry had to stop himself from banging his head on the wall or crying out loud or pushing Louis so that he fell on his ass (the last one’s weird but his emotions were all over the place).

“Sure,” Harry finally mumbled, walking past Louis to lead the way.

He kept reminding himself that he couldn’t snap at Louis because Louis was here as someone who was at the restaurant. He also couldn’t just tell him to fuck off and find the restrooms himself since he had already been there once.

So he kept walking.

“Here,” he muttered quietly, his eyes on the ground as they stopped in front of the restroom door.

Louis walked up to the door, and held it open, glancing back at Harry with an expectant look in his eyes.

Harry sighed, his shoulders dropping as he walked inside.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Louis began, and Harry reluctantly looked up from the floor to meet Louis’ eyes which only showed sincerity.

“I’m sorry for coming to the dorm late almost every night,” he clarified, and Harry only stared.

“Still not going to tell me where you went?” Harry asked, a little bitter.

Louis sighed, as he slid down the door they entered from.

Harry’s eyes automatically went to the lock to see if the door was locked. He didn’t want Louis to get hurt if by chance the door opened.

This thought of his made him want to slap himself. So maybe he was wrong. Maybe even after three whole years, Harry wasn’t over Louis. At all.

“Look, I—“ Louis started but stopped to clear his throat.  
“I was um, not doing very well in two of my classes?” He offered meekly and Harry scoffed in disbelief.

“Are you serious? Even today, after _three_ years, you’re going to give me that bullshit?” He asked, sliding down the wall across from Louis himself.

The distance between them was too much, but that’s how it’s supposed to be.

“I’m not lying,” Louis said softly, he didn’t argue back, and something about that fact made Harry consider it.

“I wasn’t doing very well in my classes and the only time I wouldn’t have to face you after taking sessions with my tutor was at night.” He explained, his voice still soft, still oddly vulnerable.

“You didn’t want me to know that you weren’t doing well?” Harry asked, and what was Louis even saying? Weren’t they supposed to tell each other everything?

“No, I—Look, our relationship was new. Everything was new to me and I didn’t want you to think that I was some failure or whatever. I just–I wanted to be perfect for you, because you were absolutely bloody perfect and I didn’t know how,” Louis tried to explain, a strain in his voice as he tried his hardest to make Harry understand.

“Louis,” Harry said softly, making Louis look at him.

“You were perfect to me. If you would’ve told me, I would’ve—I would’ve helped you!” Harry put in, his voice going an octave higher as he spoke, exasperated.

When Louis didn’t reply, he continued.  
“I _broke up_ with you because you kept lying and you didn’t even say anything?” He asked in disbelief, his eyes wide as he waited for Louis to answer.

“I knew you were too good for me, Harry. I knew it wasn’t going to last, so I took it,” Louis shrugged, standing up and brushing off the imaginary dirt on his thighs.

“No,” Harry said, an odd determination in his voice as he stood up too, walking straight up to Louis.

“How could you ever think like that?” He asked, staring at Louis who stared back at him.

“I only thought the truth,” he countered and Harry shook his head, trying to shake away the tears in his eyes he didn’t know had formed.

“No, you don’t understand,” he said, and Louis stiffened a little, recognising the thickness in Harry’s voice.

He waited for Harry to continue.

Harry gulped, placing his hands on Louis’ shoulders as he moved him back and forth gently.

“You don’t understand. I _loved_ you,” he spoke, and Louis’ breath stuttered as he stared back at Harry, as his words failed him.

“You—“ Louis trailed off, suddenly breathless as Harry nodded his head vigorously.

“Yeah, I loved you, Lou, and you kept lying. It used to hurt a lot,” Now he couldn’t stop the tears that were building in his eyes.

“Oh,” Louis spoke softly, his hands traveling to cup Harry’s cheeks.  
“I’m so sorry, love, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he said and his tears were traitors. Louis never cried! But Harry could do anything, so here he was, with salty droplets running down his cheeks.

“I know you didn’t, but you should’ve said something. I would’ve helped you, I wouldn’t have judged you. You should’ve trusted me.” Harry spoke, and Louis pulled the boy into a hug.

They held each other in a broken but loving embrace for quite some time.  
Louis kept mumbling a string of “sorry”s as he clutched Harry tighter, as close as possible.

“I’m older now,” Louis said into Harry’s neck and Harry hummed.  
“Me too,”

“I don’t have classes anymore,” Louis further said, and Harry furrowed his eyebrows. He knew Louis didn’t have classes anymore.

“I won’t hide anything,” he continued and Harry pouted, deep in thought.

“Harry Styles,” Louis said, pulling away from Harry just enough to look into his eyes.

“Are you willing to try again?”  
And Harry almost stopped breathing.

Louis only stared, his gaze confident, but Harry knew that he was probably shivering inside.

“Yes,” Harry finally breathed and that got out a sigh of relief from both of them, as Louis pulled him into a hug again.

Harry giggled, daring to kiss Louis’ cheek and Louis smiled wide, patting Harry’s back.

They pulled away from each other, staring with a twinkle in their eyes.

“Let’s go, or I’ll get fired,” Harry finally broke the staring contest, waving for Louis to follow him back outside.

Louis laughed and motioned for Harry to start walking.  
“After you,” He said, smiling fondly.

Harry nodded, a tiny and shy smile on his face as he began walking, opening the door to the restroom to exit.

“This is where you say: ‘bye, Louis Tomlinson, I love you’.” Louis joked as they reached the seating area.

And maybe it was a joke, but Harry thought, _fuck it._

“Bye, Louis Tomlinson, I love you,” He smirked, as he watched Louis’ expression go slack as pink coated his pretty face.

Louis raised both eyebrows as he shifted from foot to foot, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

Harry turned to walk back into the kitchen but he might as well have fainted with what came next.

“Hey, Harry Styles? I love you too,”

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! 
> 
> my twitter: honeyitsnapchat


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